Good morning, and welcome to Lamor's Q3 webinar. My name is Tapio Pesola, and with me today I have again our CEO, Johan Grön, as well as our interim CFO, Vesa Leino. Next, we will be going through our results, the ones we published this morning. We'll go through the highlights, the financials, and we'll also take a look at the Q4 focus points. We will also be discussing the appointments we announced yesterday. With that, go ahead, Johan.
Thank you, Tapio. So the agenda for today, we'll start off with a couple of key takeaways from Q3, and then go through a little bit of an overview of the business so far, the main points that I would like to highlight. And then we will go through the financials and outlook, and then into describing a little bit the background and also about the two new market area SVPs that we appointed as of yesterday. And then the focus of Q4, and then we'll conclude with the Q&A. So Q3 in a brief. New orders.
First of all, the new orders at a high level throughout the year, and with that, EUR 35 million worth of new orders received during Q3, with then significant long-term service projects both in Peru and Ecuador. Peru then being an environmental protection service order, and then in Ecuador, soil remediation project that we signed a contract for in that geographical area. On top of that, we're also negotiating tenders in various sizes throughout Middle East, Africa, and South America at the moment. So I would say that the business sentiment during Q3 remained very, very vibrant and that we will talk a little bit more about when going into Q4 forecast. Financials continued to improve during Q2, comparing to earlier part of the year.
We've now seen that there is an improvement in both in respect to profitability, but also the revenue continued to improve quarter-on-quarter basis, and remains on the target level. We continue, as we pointed out earlier, too, that we continue to focus on the operational efficiency and profitability. That is something that we've been focusing on from the beginning of the year, and that work continues. Then, if you're talking about the extensive portfolio that we have in Lamor, we've talked about that there is focus. We need to focus on the portfolio, make sure that we are exploiting the references and the equipment that we have in our portfolio and the solutions, and that is then leading also to service projects.
That is something that will continue, based on what we've done during the first three quarters of the year. There is a potential, highlighting. I mean, highlighting still the potential of the portfolio. That is a very important part. New orders, positive. We will continue to focus on the financials and then exploiting the extensive portfolio that has continued during the first three quarters of the year. Some of the updates. As you can see in this slide, we have a geographical reach that is going very globally. If you talk about environmental protection now, we.
That was set as a target for the first very large-scale environmental protection project that we did with the National Center for Environmental Compliance, is now successfully completed and handed over to a local governmental body that will continue the work, which is now a very valuable reference that has then opened doors into other projects, not only in Saudi Arabia, but you could say that also the Peru, the announced agreement in Peru is based on the similar type of work that we're doing. So we are stepping up in respect to credibility and also showing that we can deal with large-scale environmental protection service projects. And then we are continuing to the work around NEOM.
The negotiations are ongoing, and we cannot talk any more about the outcome of that, these negotiations, because we are right now in the, I mean, involved in those negotiations very, very hectically, and that is something that we are striving to complete, and you could say that we have all the capabilities to complete the project, and that is something that we are now focusing on, then there are three minor cleanup projects, but again, showing the, let's say, the reach of the company, that we are working with incidents in Peru, Ecuador, and also incidents in Singapore, where we are involved, in addition to the technology deliveries to Singapore that happened also during Q3. Remediation restoration.
Kuwait is, of course, our main project at the moment that is impacting the company overall in a big deal. Then we have also soil remediation projects in Oman and Chile, with extensions in those areas, too. The last point here regarding Ecuador is then an addition to that, where we had an addition to the current agreement of two years that we are now going into. Then in respect to Kuwait, the operational progress is going on very well. The bioremediation continued very efficiently, successfully, and also the soil washing process is now up to speed in respect to the southern site, and the northern site is still in its ramp-up phase.
Material recycling. We have a very positive thing here around the Norwegian shipping company, Frøy, where we have now successfully then commissioned the first installation regarding water treatment equipment to deal with lice on salmon in salmon farms. So the water treatment equipment is used to purify the salmons and then get rid of the lice and improve the outcome of the fish farms. The Bangladesh project is also progressing very well. We have the vessels in the country and are being commissioned at the moment.
The installation of the facilities is still on hold due to the challenging circumstances in the country regarding the political unrest and also the weather, the serious weather conditions that harmed the area in the beginning of the year. Overall, we have very good communication with the customer. We are very close to the customer, and then, let's say, the money transfers and agreements around that is as we have predicted so far. And as an outcome of the Bangladesh project, we have also joined forces with Grinflow, that is the technology provider for the treatment facility in Bangladesh.
This is something that we now want to highlight also when we are approaching other customers in respect to MARPOL-compliant waste treatment systems for ports. So, the waste management system around MARPOL conditions, and then in addition to that, the oil spill response part, that is becoming let's say the port protection approach that we have, that we are approaching customers with. The last point here is the chemical recycling facility that we are constructing in southern part of Finland.
Now we are in the phase where we are installing the equipment and then gradually getting ready for the ramp-up of the facility that will take place during the first half of next year. This is a snapshot of what has happened during Q3. A lot of positive progresses in all different product lines across the globe. Over to Vesa.
Okay, thanks, Johan. So let's take a look at the financials for Q1 and then January, September, and start from the revenue and profitability again. And actually, like we said, after the second quarter, the heading of this page is equal. We just replaced Q1 with Q2, so the development within the year has been actually very positive, and you could even say solid. So we have been improving quarter-on-quarter all the time, and of course, plan to do that going forward as well. And if you look at the numbers, so for example, if you take the Adjusted EBIT, Q1 EBIT was 0.5%, sorry, EUR 0.5 million. Second quarter was EUR 1.4 million, and now we are at EUR 2.1 million.
Relative adjusted EBIT in terms of a percentage of revenue has again been like 2% in Q1, then 5% in Q2, and now around 7% here. Also the revenue development from 24 to 27 to 31. So this kind of 4 million increases quarter-on-quarter, and that's something that we have, of course, been targeting. The speed could be faster, but this is what we are, in a way, to some extent, also happy with. If you look at the total January-September numbers, so the revenue for that time period was now EUR 81.8 million, and the comparison period from last year was EUR 87 million plus. There we are a bit behind.
Adjusted EBIT was now EUR 3.9 million, and it was EUR 6.9 million a year ago, and adjusted EBIT margin 4.8% versus 7.9%. I still want to remind something that we mentioned in the second quarter announcement, and that's the Kuwait EUR 1.9 million cumulative correction or adjustment that we did in the revenue recognition there. And that's kind of impacting the comparison to last year, especially, and something to keep in mind. Then if you look at the structure of the business and where did the revenue come from, there's actually no big changes in the product portfolio as such.
So when you look at the percentages of environmental protection, material recycling, and remediation and restoration, they are pretty close to what we had in the end of first half as well. But there is now some development in the area split and equipment and services split, and those are especially driven by what Johan already explained, the Singapore technology delivery and then the Norwegian water treatment tech delivery. And the impact of those was so that the equipment and services part, equipment deliveries after first half were actually 31%, and now they grow to 37% for January to September. So we had, in that sense, quite strong equipment quarter in Q3.
And then also, because both Singapore and Norway in our, of course, area categorization belong to Europe and Asia, that has increased the Europe and Asia share of revenue from 19%- 27%. Then moving on to talk about the order intake, so and the order backlog. So let's start from the order backlog. It was EUR 159.1 million at the end of Q2. Now it's a bit short of EUR 159 million, so you can say that it remained on the same level. And then the orders received during third quarter was EUR 35.4 million, which is something that we are happy with, taken, of course, that depending on the geographical location the timing is different.
Nevertheless, Q3, as you know, includes always the holiday season as well, which is taking some active time from selling and buying away from that quarter. Total year-to-date order intake for this year, i.e., January to September, is now close to EUR 121 million, and we have kept here still as a reference the last year full order intake, which was EUR 44 million. Then talking about the net working capital, and this is something that, as you know and you have heard, we have been focusing on. The status or, well, you can maybe say story for this number is it's kind of a twofold. Clearly, we are not happy with the number progress.
The net working capital in the end of Q1 was EUR 77 million. It was more or less the same in the end of Q2, and now it's EUR 83 million-EUR 84 million. There was a slight increase in the net working capital. The other side of the coin is that there's actually been a lot of good progress and activities in kind of behind the numbers, you could say. The grip we have on that topic, the flow of the net working capital and all those kind of fundamentals behind the numbers have been clearly improving during the third quarter. As I said, that's not visible in these numbers, and that is what we will drive for and we will continue to work on.
So, this is kind of a twofold in that sense. The key drivers here continue to be Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait being the main part of that. So, this will for sure continue to be in the focus for the fourth quarter. It has been in really strong focus in the third quarter, also with the JV partner in Kuwait, for example. There's a lot of joint activities in this area, and that's why I said what I said, and this continues to be, as I said, something that we will continue to work on.
And then if I summarize the Q3 and January to September in numbers, so Q3 revenue a bit short of EUR 31 million versus last year over EUR 31 million, and then adjusted operating profit EUR 2.1 million, as I said, comparable period last year EUR 3 million, and adjusted EBIT margin 6.7% and 9.6%. And then the January to September revenue EUR 81.8 million versus EUR 88 million a year ago, and then adjusted operating profit EUR 3.9 million versus EUR 6.9 million a year ago, and 4.8% in relative terms, and 7.9% a year ago.
And here I want to still repeat, it's just for the comparison purposes, if you want to do the math, and kind of include the EUR 1.9 million adjustment that we did in the second quarter for Kuwait revenue recognition, in kind of comparable terms, if you add that back to the January and September numbers this year, that will change with the same number, both the revenue and the adjusted operating profit and the margin. Operating or EBIT margin for January to September, taking that into account, would be 7.1%. But that is just to help digest the development of the business from last year. All right, thank you, and I hand over back to Johan.
Thank you, Vesa. And then in respect to the guidance for the full year 2024, our guidance in respect to revenue remains unchanged, and also regarding to still an uncertain market situation and uncertainty regarding the schedule of certain tenders, we do not provide a guidance regarding the profitability. And then the remaining part of the year, Q4. We are putting in place a stronger focus also on the sales through all Lamor's market areas. A stronger focus on that. By also strengthening the customer relationships, and that is part of the reasoning also behind the changes in the leadership on the market areas. So more.
There are three points here that is very important for the full story, that the, let's say, focus areas is going to be more precisely described, and that is something that it will now show up in the strategy also that we are renewing, and that we will come back to later on in this year. A focus regarding the product lines and the geographical approach, with the product lines. So in the market areas, what is the focus, and with what product lines we will then serve the market areas to make sure that we have full support of, let's say, the references and also the activities that are ongoing in those areas. Then the second part is the relationship with our key customers, that we also want to strengthen.
We want to be deeper and closer to the customers in the market area, and on each level throughout the organization. Operationally, we have been showing our capability in the market areas, and that is something that has improved in that sense. Then also, that is then coming also to the local market understanding and the culture, that is then a part also of the change in respect to the leadership in two of the market areas. So the appointments that we did yesterday, we have two gentlemen here that have extensive experience from the respective market areas, and also in respect to the industry overall that Lamor is representing. Rob James, he will join us to head up the Europe and Asia market area.
He has a long experience in oil spill response and incident management throughout the market area, and he's familiar with the customers, the countries, and also the circumstances prevailing in those areas. In addition to that, he has also experience from waste management, so he has a. You could say that he has a pretty full experience throughout our product lines in Lamor that we are currently representing in that market area. And then Aziz Al Othman, he will then join us to then take care of the Middle East and Africa market area.
And, his understanding of the market area, closeness to the different operators in the market area, and he has been, you could say, an instrumental person also in setting up, for example, the oil spill response approach throughout certain countries in the market area. So he is bringing the, let's say, in-depth knowledge of the market area, and especially then for the GCC countries. And here I would also like to point out that Santiago Gonzalez, who is leading the South and North America market area, he has expressed his interest in retiring, a well-deserved retirement. And together with him, we are now then looking into the successful successor replacement in respect to that market area leadership, and that is ongoing.
I would also like to thank the previous market area leaders for the work that they've done throughout the years in setting up the market area approach in Lamor. Focus for Q4. As was pointed out earlier, executing the current deliveries, that will be one of the most important parts in making sure that we will meet the targets for Q4. And also, that we are involved in several tenders of various size, and I think that underlining the various size, that mid-size type of tenders, and then of course equipment tenders, that is the underlying business of Lamor, is in a large focus also for this part going forward.
Reaching our guidance for Q4 means that we need to perform very well in both executing and also bringing in certain tenders for the rest of the year, and that's what we've taken into account. Another part is the working capital. That was very well pointed out earlier, that this is something where we have put a lot of efforts now together with our joint venture partner, and this is especially around the Kuwait project, that we are together making sure that in addition to the very excellent operative conditions in the project, that also the payments are processed and we are getting the, let's say, the working capital into a trend that we are looking for.
So this is something that is really a big effort, and we truly believe that this is something that will be showing up throughout within Q4, then we have the growth strategy update that will be happening now in the near future, is the sales efforts. This is something that we will continue to focus on, and also making sure that we are utilizing the resources, both internal and external, in the best possible way. We cannot oversee either the increased internal efficiency that we've started to work on from the beginning of the year, and that is also continuing to be a part of the strategy, to ensure that we are ready for the growth, and then, of course, the market area leadership to drive the market area sales efforts.
So these are the three building blocks for the focus in Q4. So then over to the Q&A.
Yes. Thank you, Johan, and thank you, Vesa, for the presentations. We are now ready to start the Q&A. We already have a few questions waiting, but do please keep posting them, more questions. Actually, before we start, Johan, I just want to acknowledge that this is Vesa's final result webcast here at Lamor. Maybe a few comments about how do you feel about letting Vesa go, and who will we see next time?
Oh, of course, it's. We've been working very closely during the tenure of you here in Lamor, and not happy to see you go, but life is life, and I would like to thank you for your efforts throughout this year. Then we will see our new CFO then stepping in, and he will be representing us then in the next review that we will have in the end of, when we are presenting our Q4 results, and he will join us from 1st of November.
Yeah. Thanks, Johan. It's been very interesting, and I could say educational eight months, and it's been also nice to witness pretty close what this whole thought of clean the world-
Yes
That you have means, and I've been impressed by everything that Lamor does, actually.
Thank you.
Yes, it has been very nice working with you, Vesa. Then we get to the questions, so you will not be. We will not be letting you off the hook yet. So first one from Danske's analyst, Antti. Regarding the NCEC project, which was discussed in the presentation also, is the conclusion that Lamor is not negotiating any more extensions to the contract? And if so, how much revenues are expected to come from this contract as a whole during 2024?
Yeah, I mean, we concluded, or we are concluding the project, that we are now in the stage where we are summing up the work that we've done with NCEC in this project. And that was according to the plan for the full, from the start of the project, that at some point it will be handed over to, let's say, a local governmental body that will be continuing the work. So maintaining the activities that we've now built up, training 4,000 people, establishing three response bases along the Red Sea coast, and maintaining that capability. That has been in very well use throughout the year, due to the fact that the geopolitical situation, and especially around the Red Sea.
You could say that we've been operating in a war zone for this year in respect to the oil spill response, so we've been constantly on alert in respect to that, so the summing up of the project is ongoing, and we will come back to this when we are talking about the full year and in the Q4 report.
Thank you. Then maybe another question actually from Antti. A similar topic was also asked about from Pekka on the line. "So could you elaborate more on the tenders that you are participating currently? What kind of win rate for these tenders are you expecting in order to reach the revenue guidance?" Yeah, that's essentially it.
Yeah, I mean, there are several tenders on different levels. We could say that we are discussing about larger service deals, but that's something that will most probably go into next year. And then we have mid-size and smaller equipment deals. I would not like to go into our possibility of winning each of these deals, but I would say that the market remains very, very healthy, and the, let's say, interest in our equipment offerings and services is remaining on a very, very high level. We've been talking about this the whole year, but the situation is like this, that the geopolitical situation is very constrained, and it's not only in one certain area.
We are talking about several hotspots, especially if you are talking about the sea logistics. We are involved heavily now around Singapore, where there have been continuously spills, and we are addressing those together with the partners in that area. And the next hotspots is the Red Sea, and also the Arabian Gulf, and Arabian Sea, where we are also involved in activities on a constant basis. And then not to forget the Caribbean Sea, and then around Panama, where we are constantly also involved in this. And also on the what was shown up here, too, that in Peru we are building up the similar type of response capabilities now that we've.
We are known for from the GCC countries, is now being also implemented to a larger extent also in Peru. This is the activities are ongoing across the globe at the moment, and it's not only regarding the oil spill, that there are then the cleanup part that has not. I mean, we are involved in discussing about continuation of the Kuwait project also that we talked about earlier. There are several areas that we are in very close negotiations at the stage that we are expecting that there will be a decision.
Maybe an additional question from Pekka as well regarding the office and, and then deliveries. I'm not sure if there's a single answer for this question, but, "What is the average delivery schedule from an order to actual delivery?" I suppose there's a lot of variation, but can you comment something on, on a general level with Lamor's offers and tenders?
Yeah, it depends on, of course, that we have stocks in different parts of the world, and where we can deliver from, and then the logistical routes at the moment, and the time schedule is varying a lot. So it's very hard to give a precise answer to that, it could be from three weeks to up to eight weeks, depending on from where you deliver and how you can get the logistics knitted together. You could say that the Suez Channel is very limited at the moment, that what kind of logistics goes through that, so that is increasing the delivery times.
But again, that depends on from where we can then supply the customers, and that's something that we are optimizing together with our logistics team, to make sure that we reduce the delivery times as much as possible. This is more trickier and requires more attention at the moment than compared to an earlier stage.
Yes. Thank you. Then another question, Pekka is asking about NEOM, which was obviously also discussed in the presentation. He's asking, "What is the key, key message Lamor has regarding the NEOM negotiations? Is it possible that the order is canceled, or will it be significantly reduced?" Any comments on this?
Yeah, it's a very tricky question because we are deeply in the negotiations at the moment. We are meeting up to all requirements regarding the contract overall, and the customer then engaged in the, let's say, negotiations about how to optimize the delivery. And those negotiations are in very, very hot. You could say in a very good understanding. There is no dispute between Lamor and NEOM other than these negotiations, and in a very good understanding, we are talking through the details of it, and we expect those to be completed in the very near future.
Thank you. Then let's take one, just want to point out that there's still time for questions. If you want to ask something, please post it on the line, on the side. Maybe then Kilpilahti next. So Mika is asking, "What is the reason for the delay at Kilpilahti concept plant?" So you mentioned that it's production, or first production is starting at early 2025 in the report. So what has been the biggest challenge in the project? What has been the greatest success? And then also expected revenue for the plant in 2025, which we actually commented already.
Yeah. I would say that if you're looking on this project, the chemical recycling of plastics, and the first demonstration or pilot plant that we are now putting up in the southern part of Finland. You could say that we have developed a full value chain from the raw material requirements, delivery, the processing technology, and then also the offtake requirements. This full value chain, we are cooperating very closely together with each party that is involved in the value chain. And for example, that Shell is now starting to ramp up their upgrading unit in Moerdijk, I hope I pronounced it in the right way, in Netherlands.
The inauguration and also the start of that ramp-up will be on the 6th of November, that we will be present at the moment. That is one portion that is very important for the whole value chain. Developing this value chain is very, you could say, unique compared to some other similar type of projects, where there is more like a one-size-fits-all type of an approach that has not been very successful. Now, you could say that the delays, there are three major reasons for that. To get the documentation and also the approvals from the authorities is one thing, since it's a unique type of a process overall that has in an.
I mean, caused some delays to the project. No major issues, but still, increased requirements that forced us then to do some changes to that. Then the second part is then also to fit, let's say, the upgrading in the process with the requirements of Shell, where we have taken additional precautions to make sure that that will happen. And this is a pilot unit in a large scale that, to some extent, includes additional work that has caused these delays. But now we are on track, and let's say, installations of the process equipment are starting. We are in the infancy of making sure that we have everything in place, that we can start with the ramp-up.
And we're also taking a little bit of a cautious approach to the ramp-up schedule to make sure that we can meet the requirements. So I would say that these are the major issues in respect to it, then.
Thank you. The final question actually at this moment is, let's end with this one: "So Lamor seems like a very international company." That seems to be the case. That's also my understanding, based on the first four months. "Are there any cultural challenges, and how are we addressing them?
Yeah, I mean, I would say that that was also a surprise to me when I joined the company. But I would say that it is a unique thing, that we are very global. But on the other hand, that is very deep in the DNA of Lamor, that we are working with local partners also in the different countries, to make sure that we can bridge this cultural impact, that you could very well understand that in some cases is very important. And this cultural bridge, that's also a reflection, partly a reflection also of the now the changes in the leadership team, too. So yes, there are cultural differences, but that's also a richness to a company like Lamor.
Definitely. I think we have answered all the questions, so that concludes the Q&A and also our webinar today. I think it's about time to say that we look forward to talking to you again during Q4.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.